We all love dance crazes we can join in on.
Even better when the dances are easy enough that those of us without rhythm can participate.
Ideally without looking too ridiculous (that’s me!).
Simplicity, combined with a catchy song, are why some select few dances go crazy viral.
All of the following music video dance routines are ones that absolutely everybody wanted to learn.
And they did.
Keep reading for the full list and see if you remember the moves (be honest, you definitely learned them!).
Music Video Dance Routines Everybody Wanted To Learn
If you haven’t already danced these dance crazes (where have you been?) go ahead and watch the videos and give them a try now. See which is your favorite. I hate to admit it, but mine was Gangnam Style. Still is, I suppose.
The Macarena Dance
Old-school music videos were all about dancing. Whether artists could afford professionals to come up with a unique choreography or they’d simply move to the rhythm, the music was good and easy to dance to.
In my humble opinion, the biggest dance routine of all time is the Macarena Dance, from the Macarena song by Los Del Rio. The song itself is extremely catchy (even though the words might not be so easy to pronounce if you’re not a Spanish speaker), and the moves are super simple.
The dance routine consists of stretching your arms in front of you, flipping your palms up, moving your hands (one at a time) to your shoulders, then head, and finally hips. Twirl your hips and rotate whenever you hear “Ay Macarena”, and you’ll have mastered the dance.
The Thriller Dance
The legendary MJ had an army of monsters, zombies, and miscreants in the Thriller video. And although you’d think they were there to inspire a sense of dread, their shuffling moves were all part of a well-thought out choreography that ultimately resulted in the Thriller Dance.
You probably caught yourself imitating the werewolf moves whenever this song came up on radio stations, just like millions of people were and continue to do today.
Unlike Macarena, the Thriller dance is a bit more elaborate and complex. It alternates between moving in various directions mixed with specific head bobbing, finger-snapping, and half-crouches, so learning the entire choreography is something you’ll probably need an expert coach for.
You can try the simplified version, if you’re not keen on studying the whole thing for months, and simply raise your hands like a zombie whenever you crank Thriller up. Bonus: it’s one of the best pop music albums ever made.
The Gangnam Style Dance
It’s been over a decade since Psy took the world by storm with his amazing Gangnam Style video. Dancing is absolutely crucial to the popularity of this track, since most people tried to mimic Psy’s movements whenever he’d “saddle up” in the clip.
If you’ve watched the original video, you probably noticed that the majority of dancing parts are highly improvisational and don’t follow a clear-cut structure.
With this in mind, you don’t need to learn every single movement Psy performed in Gangnam Style except for the “riding” part.
Psy became famous for placing arms in front of him as if he were holding horse reins and jumping from one leg to another.
There’s a bit of a technique to this particular choreography, though. It involves pitch-perfect posture and a peculiar style of “trotting”, so pay attention to the refrains to learn how Psy does it.
The YMCA Dance
Another hugely popular dance broke out from the legendary YMCA tune by the Village People. Similar to Macarena, the choreography for this song is straightforward, primarily revolving around clapping to the rhythm, changing face directions, and spinning your hands.
Remember to raise your hands above your head whenever the chorus part begins, but for the remainder of the song you can just clap 3/4s while moving from left to right, and do the same with your back turned on every 4/4.
Electric Boogie Dance
There aren’t too many songs where complex kicks, jumps, slides, and weaves feel natural and almost random, yet that’s precisely what you’ll see in Marcia Griffiths’ Electric Boogie.
This dance mostly consists of moves you’d be doing at a party after a few drinks. Weave from side to side, raise your leg on every third beat, clap your hands, raise them in different directions, and punch the air (if no one’s in front of you) – there are so many unique moves in Electric Boogie Dance that it’s enough to make your head spin.
Dissecting every second and motion in this dance choreography would be difficult even for pros, so if you’re inexperienced you might want to try some simpler dances like the Macarena or Gangnam Style first.
Spice Girls Stop Dance
Virtually every move the Spice Girls ever did on video is enough to be classified as “dance”, but there are a few songs where the choreography is so exciting that most fans wanted to learn how to do it immediately.
One such case is with the tune Stop, where the Girls are barely dancing on their own, but the team of expert dancers wiggle around, jump, and follow every step the performers make.
Although this particular choreography isn’t as difficult as the Electric Boogie Dance or the Thriller Dance, it’s not that easy to perform without a partner (or five).
The bulk of moves the dancers are performing revolve around shadowing the Spice Girls, which involves standing in front, back, and on their sides, pulling back during pre-choruses, and trailing them as they hit the refrains.
Uptown Funk Dance
A healthy dose of swag, classy finger-snapping, well-timed swaying, and half-crouches is what made Uptown Funk dance so popular. More importantly, the tune itself is top-notch.
This song crosses the borders of typical pop with a dash of funk (hence the name), so getting into the groove should be a breeze when you listen to it a few times.
This dance choreography might be a tad more difficult than it appears once you start breaking down each move. The dancing in the verses involves a lot of swaying, shoulder clutching, and raising hands.
Then the pre-chorus hits where you should move close to the imaginary camera on every other beat with different movements. Fortunately, there’s no dancing in the bridge parts, so you’ll have a bit of time to breathe and prepare for the main course – the refrain.
Dancing in the chorus parts will challenge your sense of timing, as Bruno and his squad alternate between various swaying movements and pauses.
Improvise parts that you can’t handle at the beginning to make it through the piece, and keep watching what the dancers are doing until their movements are drilled into your routine.
Viral Music Video Dance Routines: Final Thoughts
Be honest. How many of these music video dance routines did you dance yourself , or even learn to near perfection? And if you missed some, do you now feel a drive to make up for lost time and go ahead and learn the routine?
Personally, I danced them all at some point on various dance floors in bars. Of course, I danced them all poorly, but that never matters, does it? Very few people actually dance them well. It’s really just all about having fun with your friends. Or alone in your living room (yes, I do that!).
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